


mist flowers, thunder skies

by unbalancedlove



Category: NCT (Band), 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, genshin impact au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29512404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbalancedlove/pseuds/unbalancedlove
Summary: when prince yuta of inazuma takes in a fugitive vision user on the island border, his fierce loyalty to the electro archon is brought into question.
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	mist flowers, thunder skies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vchsol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vchsol/gifts).



> hi! i originally wrote this fic for [lin](https://twitter.com/alientyong)'s eyes only but she asked me to post it here for more people to enjoy ^____^ this au has been our baby for months and sharing it with more people makes me excited and nervous omg
> 
> i love you so much lin and you made playing genshin a million times more fun 💕💕💕!!!!!! i can't wait to experience inazuma with you when it finally comes out hehe
> 
> important note: the setting and terminology present in this fic require basic knowledge of genshin impact. if you haven't played the game and would like an explanation of the premise and setting of gi you can read it a [here](https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Teyvat). if you're a genshin player but don't know much about inazuma (an upcoming region) you can read about it [here](https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Vision_Hunt_Decree)! of course i took a lot of liberty and expanded on it myself since not much has been revealed yet:)

“hey mr. kidnapper,” taeyong asks casually.

“my name is nakamoto,” yuta answers, irritated. he had hoped that polishing his spear in plain sight would be enough to scare his prey into silence. it didn’t usually take much for people to turn away from him in fear, his eyes and double vision were more than enough. “or his highness to you.”

“okay, his highness mr. kidnapper nakamoto.” 

“that’s not-” he exhales, exasperated, before deciding it wasn’t worth the correction. “what do you want?”

“why haven’t you just killed me?” taeyong wonders, like he’s inquiring about the weather. “i can assure you that there’s no one back home willing to pay any amount of mora for my safe return.”

he really doesn’t know about what’s going on in inazuma. “don’t be ridiculous, i’m not holding you for ransom.”

taeyong tilts his head, and his already big eyes widen. yuta can’t bear to hold contact with them for more than a few seconds for some stupid reason. “could it be that you’ve taken a liking to me then?”

yuta clicks his tongue and raises his spear. it pulses with electricity as he points it towards taeyong's throat, only to be rebuffed by a clear blue shield that envelopes him upon contact. an exceptionally powerful hydro vision.

to his credit, taeyong looks terrified. 

that’s more like it. “this is why you’re still alive.” 

**✧ ☁ ♡ ☁ ✧**

prince yuta of the nakamoto house knows these woods better than the winding corridors and secret chambers of the mansion he calls home. it’s where he received his first vision at the age of seven and proceeded to burn himself over and over until he mastered the ability to bend fire to his will. 

(his second vision, of course, was passed down to him on his father’s deathbed. the power of baal herself and the family’s pride.)

his life is a little easier now, he’s proven himself to be a loyal servant to the shogun and although strange and unsightly, his powers are unmatched and irreplaceable. no matter how scared people are and how many whispers swirl around anywhere he goes, as long as he has baal’s approval, they’re all forced to show him their begrudging respect.

still. he can really only feel like he can breathe when he’s here all alone. 

yuta closes his eyes and listens closely to the wind, its peace interrupted by the electricity emanating from his spear and the fire crinkling at his fingertips, readying for an explosion. 

tonight is going as any of his training sessions normally would, he’ll practice some new moves and blow up a few trees and maybe bring home some game to his house staff. it’s all he can do to make up for his increasingly extended stays away in the capital.

it’s not like he has a choice, though, someone has to do the shogun’s dirty work for her.

he opens his eyes and sets them on an unassuming fox, ready to charge, when he hears a scream. 

hunched over an abandoned shrine a few feet away is a cloaked figure, shivering as he’s cornered by a group of hilichurls. 

yuta doesn’t hesitate. he leaps forward and uses his charged energy to plunge his spear into the ground, rumbling the earth, shaking the ancient trees, and scaring away the birds above them in a feathered storm.

all the enemies turn into dust.

he looks up and the wind is knocked out of yuta’s lungs. 

the hood of the cloak falls in the aftermath, revealing a man with a sharp jaw contrasting his soft features. 

yuta offers his hand, heart pulsing in his ears, praying to celestia that his showcase of brutality didn’t scare the beautiful stranger.

the stranger smiles though and eagerly holds on to him for balance. and that’s when yuta feels it.

the power of crushing waves coursing through him. 

“you saved my life! thank you so m-”

yuta pulls away like he’d just been burned, much to the stranger’s confusion. he lifts his spear up. “p-put your hands up where i can see them and follow me.”

**✧ ☁ ♡ ☁ ✧**

taeyong is downcast when he comes to visit him the next day. his arms are hugging his knees and his eyes are fixed on the narrow window. 

as scary as their reputation is, there are no prison cells on the nakamoto mansion grounds. yuta opted to keep taeyong in one of the spare rooms of his personal quarters, his excuse being that he needs to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't escape. he ignores the funny look his elderly housekeeper gives him when he informs her of his decision. 

taeyong has changed into servant robes that don't quite fit. they’re grey and black and hang loose on his broad shoulders, exposing more of his collarbones and chest than necessary. yuta tries not to stare.

“one of the servants told me,” taeyong begins. he looks more upset than he did when his neck was nearly slashed, which alarms yuta. “when she was bringing my breakfast.”

“huh?”

“about the reason why you're keeping me here,” taeyong says. “submitting me to the electro archon. y-you could keep me here for eternity for all i care, but taking away my vision means that–”

against every ounce of good judgment in his body, yuta’s heart squeezes. “ _taeyong_ ,” he says his foreign name for emphasis. he’s never heard anything like it before. “not only have you snuck past the border, but you’re a vision wielder in inazuma. as per the shogun’s orders, your powers belong to her. i’m honored to submit myself to her and you should too.” 

taeyong is unsatisfied with his explanation. “you get to walk freely.”

“not that it’s any of your business, but my powers are needed elsewhere.” he’s ready to walk out but fuck, that look in taeyong’s eyes fills him with guilt. “you get one more question.”

taeyong catches the miniscule slip in his threatening demeanor and latches on to it, perking up for the first time since he arrived. “just one?”

“don’t push it,” yuta threatens, electricity jolts at his fingertips. 

“relax,” taeyong replies, and his voice is gentle but cold, like a soft current. “i’m just wondering how you’re planning to offer my vision to the shogun.”

he pushes his already loose robe aside to fully reveal his chest.

his vision is embedded into his skin, right above his heart.

**✧ ☁ ♡ ☁ ✧**

despite everything, yuta can say he’s never killed another human being before. he can also say that he doesn’t want taeyong to be the first.

he’s a strange creature, when yuta comes to visit him he happily announces that he’d named the birds that sit outside his window during the day ruby and rapunzel. taeyong has spent the past week inside the same dreary room and yet he’d turned it into this magical fantasy land where his imagination runs wild. 

“they meet here without fail every single day,” he muses. “they must love each other a lot, don’t you think?”

and he never has an answer for that, because frankly he’d never thought about what goes on inside the heads of birds. 

every day he also asks, “prince yuta, when are you going to kill me?”

“i don’t think birds have feelings,” yuta changes the subject. it’s the last thing he wants to think about. “they’re just stupid animals, taeyong.”

his real response would be, _today_ , _right now_ , _just seconds away_. collecting a vision is easy, he’s done it a hundred times. the only thing that stops yuta is that deep down, he knows he wouldn’t be able to sleep with taeyong’s blood on his hands, a little inconvenient when he already has trouble sleeping to begin with.

he’s going to stall until he musters the courage to do it.

“they’re ruby and rapunzel,” taeyong rolls his eyes. “god, you’re such a bore. if you’re going to keep me in this one room the least you could do is humor me a bit, offer me some escapism before my inevitable death.”

 _you’re not going to die_ , yuta desperately wants to reply. but he can’t make empty promises.

“fine,” he sighs and takes a seat across from him. “tell me more about ruby and rapunzel.”

taeyong smiles and rests his palms on the table. he sticks out his index finger and a string of clear water appears, stretching out until it morphs into a bird identical to the rapunzel. it flies up to yuta’s face and leaves a gentle peck on his nose. its partner, ruby soon follows.

taeyong controls them easily, with the slightest bend of his finger and at a gentle rhythm, almost as if he’s tapping along to an invisible beat.

“that’s an advanced technique, incredible,” yuta blurts out as the water birds circle around them, raining down droplets with each flap of their fickle wings. he had already known that taeyong’s vision was incredibly strong, but his command on it makes him all the more dangerous. 

oh, fuck.

as soon as the realization hits him, the birds shift and lunge at his defenseless hands, instantly turning into handcuffs upon contact. 

taeyong is expressionless, his gentle smile long gone, and his big eyes turning into empty pits of darkness. “i didn't think it would be that easy.”

it shouldn't have. yuta never ever lets his guard down like this, especially not in the presence of a powerful vision user. taeyong had him hook, line, and sinker.

his prisoner gets up to leave, and yuta tries to free himself from his cuffs to no avail, they're as clear and delicate as they are resilient. fuck fuck fuck. they tighten around his wrist and cut off the stream of elemental energy coursing through him. he can't use either of his visions like this and taeyong must have known that. he’d been watching him practice and yuta stupidly, and perhaps arrogantly, dismissed it as admiration and curiosity. 

just as taeyong is about to slide the door open and run, yuta rushes behind him and kicks him down to his knees. 

he stomps on the ground, releasing a large current of electricity and making taeyong scream in pain. yuta winces to himself. it’s not like he had any other choice, he has little control over his powers when they’re not coming from his spear or his fingertips. 

that’s when he expects taeyong to give in, he’s used to people begging for mercy after experiencing a tiny jolt. yuta tentatively lets his guard down again after long seconds of silence, watching taeyong wither on the floor pathetically.

he’s about to mutter an apology when knife shaped swirls of water charge at him, embedded with the same electricity he just inflicted on taeyong. _he’s insane_ , yuta thinks to himself as he swiftly dodges each one, backing himself further into the room. no sane person would witness the full extent of his brutality and still face him head on.

but taeyong perseveres, emboldened by the advantage he has with his cuffs. he’s still shaking though, the bubble he drew around himself shakes as if he’s at the center of an earthquake.

yuta could just as easily release flames from underneath his feet, but his pyro vision is a lot more unstable and one wrong move would turn everything in the room into ash.

his mind is going a million miles per hour, calculating the safest way for him to take back control, and he only notices taeyong when it’s too late.

between his hands is a growing, fierce ball of clear energy, spinning faster than yuta’s eyes can comprehend. taeyong’s bubble shield has popped, and he’s pouring all his remaining energy into this final, desperate attack. 

yuta mutters a swear and under his breath and hurls himself on top of him, forcing an already drained taeyong to lose focus. the ball explodes and drenches them both in water. yuta’s hands rest between taeyong’s neck, and the clear chain connecting his cuffs dig into his skin.

taeyong exhales into his face, and they both freeze, only then realizing how close they are. eyes locked, their foreheads almost touching. 

“please stop resisting,” yuta begs, his voice shaky. “i don't want to do something that i would regret.” 

maybe it’s the warmth behind taeyong’s pretty eyes, maybe it’s the strong current he felt before morphing into a gentle stream, but yuta has never been this honest around another person his entire life. 

taeyong nods, and the shackles evaporate.

they’re sitting out in yuta’s personal garden later, both out of breath and weary from their fight. taeyong slowly takes the clear summer air into his lungs, it’s his first time going outside in a week.

“i’m not used to combat,” he confesses with a smile. “maybe with a little more practice i could have taken you down.”

yuta scoffs. he’s arguably the most powerful warrior in inazuma, even more now that he’s the only one legally allowed to keep his vision. “no kidding.” he goes quiet for a long minute. “you know i don’t have a choice, right?”

taeyong looks down and hugs his knees to his chest. even if he left the nakamoto grounds, as long as he’s in inazuma, his capture is only a matter of time.“i know.”

all that talk about honor and dedicating himself to baal is pure bullshit and they both know it. they live under tyranny, mere chess pieces with roles to fulfill. yuta, the predator. taeyong, the prey.

it’s awkward all over again, and yuta kicks himself for bringing up their inevitable fate and ruining the mood for the millionth time. so he says the first thing that comes to his mind. “you’re not really scared of me.”

“i mean, yeah,” taeyong shrugs. “you’re kind of a goofball.”

“excuse me?” yuta has been called a lot of things. beast, freak, cold. heartless. never….that.

“you take yourself way too seriously, you swing your spear around menacingly for no reason other than the fact that you probably think it makes you looks cool.”

“that’s not true!” because he _is_ cool. taeyong doesn’t know or understand the beauty of martial arts.

taeyong tries to suppress a smile. “what do you call your spear?’

“vanquishing thundersto-” he stops himself partway, finally hearing what taeyong is referring to. fuck.

“okay, you’re looking at me like i just delved into the deepest corners of your brain,” taeyong laughs. it’s a relief he doesn’t, because yuta’s thoughts are consumed by how pretty his high pitched giggles sound. “the room you keep me in is full of these fantasy heroic novels, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”

the only thing overriding yuta’s embarrassment is his fascination by how cutely taeyong delivers the results of his top secret investigation. he laughs and laughs at yuta’s dumbfounded expression, taking pure, innocent joy in teasing him. 

it’s true, maybe he lifted a trick or two from these books, but they’re all he had growing up, back when his powers scared everyone away and none of the other aristocrat kids wanted to be his friend. they’re all working with the bakufu in the capital now, while yuta is all alone in his family home by the border.

he _had_ to turn himself to the heroes he looked up to in his books, become a version of himself that he, at the very least, could like when no one else would.

taeyong’s vision gleams against the waning sun. yuta thinks he might be a freak just like him, and it fills him with a brief sense of comradery. “you can’t make fun of me when you’ve etched your own vision into your skin.”

“i didn’t do that myself,” taeyong answers swiftly, surprising yuta with his candidness. “i was granted my vision when i was born, as does everyone in my tribe. we consider our visions an indispensable part of who we are, much like our hearts.”

as he tells his story, taeyong creates little water humans with the tip of his finger. first a baby receiving a blessing from the sky, then a small child dancing around swirls of water, then a pubescent boy surrounded by a small crowd of people, giving him head pats or smiling fondly at him. 

“your tribe?”

taeyong nods. “i’m from an island just off the shore of liyue. i don’t blame you for not knowing about us, most people don’t. we’ve maintained a largely peaceful existence over the past few centuries,” he says. that explains his lack of combat skill. “then word broke out about a tribe of abnormally powerful vision users, all the way until it reached the fatui, who felt threatened by us existing outside the jurisdiction of the archons.”

the crowd disappears, leaving the boy all alone. 

“oh,” yuta whispers softly. 

“i was the only survivor.”

it’s that silence again, but it’s not as strained and tense as it usually is. with all their cards on the table, the two of them find a weird mutual sense of comfort in each other’s presence. yuta decides that being himself around a different person feels a little good.

maybe it’s just because that person happens to be taeyong.

“hey prince yuta.”

 _just yuta_ , he mentally corrects. “yeah?”

“when you said you didn’t want to do something you regret,” taeyong begins with a hushed tone, his voice betraying a deep fear. “did you mean losing my vision or me?”

yuta bites his bottom lip and remains silent.

practicing combat with your prisoner is by all accounts, incredibly stupid. but yuta’s judgement has been severely impaired from the moment he laid his eyes on taeyong. 

and besides, he makes a really good opponent. 

taeyong is a quick learner, and it only takes him a few days to be able to judge all of yuta’s basic attacks. a few more to craft new techniques to counter them. 

“nice!” yuta yells out, out of breath, when a massive wave that taeyong summoned from thin air knocks him back. he can barely feel the pain because taeyong is squealing in joy, celebrating his victory by throwing his arms in the air so cutely. he’s tempted to do the unthinkable and purposely let him win just for his reactions. 

he walks over to where yuta is lying on the ground and grabs his spear. he spins it around the same way yuta does when he’s generating fire, albeit with a little theatrical exaggeration. yuta does not appreciate the unflattering impression. “you should teach me how to use that next.”

“give that back,” he grumbles instead, which only makes taeyong clunch it closer to him. there is a spark in his eyes that tells him he’s up to no good. “taeyong! give it back!” 

“i’m prince taeyong of the nakamoto house,” taeyong says in an even worse impression of yuta’s voice. he swings the spear with a splash of water instead of the usual electricity or flames. “with the power of thunder, i’m going to punish you!”

“i don’t even talk like that!” _out loud_ , he adds mentally. he gets up and reaches out to take his weapon back, but taeyong is not done playing around. 

they wrestle for control, with yuta lunging at him and taeyong barely slipping away. eventually he grows more frustrated, despite how cute taeyong looks when he’s messing with him and clasps his hands over his.

time stops.

the sparks in taeyong’s eyes fade and are replaced with something deeper, more serious. yuta can feel the crushing waves all over again.

his eyelids flutter shut.

their first kiss is nothing like their fights. it’s gentle and slow, and yuta is immediately addicted to the softness of taeyong’s lips, his pretty little sighs, the way he inches closer like he can’t get enough.

yuta’s heart is drumming in his ears when they finally break apart, terrified of the consequences of what he just did. but taeyong smiles at him, and everything is okay again.

he leans back in for more.

there isn't a word for what they are.

taeyong wakes up in yuta’s bed more frequently than he does his own, they eat all their meals together, and practice combat and use it as an excuse to make out under the warm sunlight. in short, once they start being honest about the nature of the weird tension between them from the moment they met, it’s hard to stop.

“you’re so pretty,” is the first thing yuta says in the morning. he caresses a hand over taeyong’s warm cheek, and taeyong responds with a sleepy smile. “so, so pretty.”

“are you going to say that every single moring?”

“only until it stops being true,” he says, and lets out a strangled scream when taeyong tries to choke him with a pillow.

“what are we doing today?” taeyong asks suddenly. yuta is taken aback by the question. it’s the same as what they do every day.

his heart sinks when he realizes that taeyong has had no access to the outside world for the past month and a half. as much as they liked spending time together, he was still technically locked up like a prisoner.

and it’s so unfair. because taeyong is so full of life, he reminds yuta of the first rays of morning sunlight and the wind knocking him off his feet and the pouring summer rain. he has an entire universe behind his eyes.

“i have an idea,” he says breathily, plopping a kiss on taeyong’s forehead before getting up. he digs through his old clothes and pulls out a thick undershirt that doesn’t quite fit anymore. 

he runs his hand through taeyong’s bare chest, stopping at the vision. yuta presses his hand on it and taeyong looks at him curiously. “put this on.”

it’s a better coverup than his usual loose fitting robes. one wrong move and his secret could be easily exposed. “what’s it for?”

“if you’re going to have a a lot of eyes on you, it’s best to play it safe.”

“yuta,” taeyong says, and yuta can never get enough of the way he says his name. warm and familiar and fond. “what are you planning to do?”

yuta grins. “we’re going to the capital.”

“hey, uncle! would you like to buy-”

the boy holding box full of candy freezes when his eyes meet yuta’s. his two visions hang down his neck, and his spear is on his back. anyone who spent a day in the capital would recognize him instantly as the shogun’s dog. 

he runs off after blurting out a couple of mumbled apologies, and attracts the attention of everyone in the busy city shopping district in his wake. dread fills yuta’s body as the usual confusion morphing into disgust and terror is mirrored in the faces of everyone around them. that’s right. that’s all he is.

“i’m sorry,” he whispers to taeyong as they make their way through the crowd.

taeyong instinctively reaches for his hand and gives it a good squeeze. “for what?”

“i’m used to people being scared of me, but you shouldn’t have people run away from you just because i’m here.”

“don’t be stupid,” taeyong replies without hesitation, annoyance coloring his voice. “these assholes are rudely staring at you and you’re worried about _me_ being bothered by it?”

yuta soon feels silly for ever worrying, because taeyong is barely paying attention to anyone around him. he’s fascinated by everything in the sprawling capital and all the sights yuta has taken for granted. he points at the tall buildings and the colorful food stalls and electro powered vehicles.

“the raiden shogun uses her massive accumulated electro energy to power the entire country,” yuta explains. he hesitates before reciting his next memorized line. “it’s for the benefit of everyone in inazuma.”

taeyong turns to him with stars in his eyes. “yuta, i feel like my brain is melting.”

yuta laughs, which makes taeyong laugh too, despite his playful shove in retaliation. they’re lost in each other and for just a brief, peaceful moment, the glares and chatter disappear and the only thing he can see is taeyong looking at him with more love than he’s ever received in his life.

“prince nakamoto!”

hair raises in the back of yuta’s neck. he instinctively lets go of taeyong’s hand and pushes him behind him protectively, his fingertips a millimeter away from his spear.

the woman approaching them smiles, twisted and smug. “relax, your highness. you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“you know i’m not big on humor,” yuta replies dryly. 

“oh? but you were smiling just a second ago,” the woman says. “you and your companion. you haven’t introduced us.”

yuta’s instincts tell him to turn around and get taeyong as far away from this place as he possibly could. “hirai momo, when was i ever required to introduce my servants to you?”

taeyong is dressed as such, precisely in the events of encounters like this one.

hirai stares at him with piercing eyes, almost as if she knows he’s hiding something. “you don’t need to be so cagey, i’m just trying to be friendly! what’s your name boy?”

hirai comes from an aristocratic family just like his. unlike him, however, she works at the capital’s bakufu headquarters. she would eagerly spread the news of yuta accompanying a suspicious stranger to everyone there, until it reaches the shogun herself.

taeyong shoots yuta a nervous look, awaiting instructions, and yuta simply nods. it’s best if they play along to avoid suspicion. “s-shotaro,” he borrows the name of one of yuta’s actual servants. the kid who used to bring his meals when he was still in confinement 

hirai hums in satisfaction. “i won’t keep you then, it’s been a while since you’ve been to the capital. i’m sure you have a lot to catch up on,” she says. her tone is friendly but the dread at the pit of yuta’s stomach doesn’t move an inch. “if you need anything, i’m always close by.” 

it’s a threat and a warning. 

who was he kidding? yuta knew from the second he laid his eyes on him. 

he was never, ever, going to submit taeyong to the archon and give his life away.

what was the alternative, though? every second taeyong spends by his side is filled with uncertainty and danger. he’d given in to his selfish desire to keep taeyong for himself this entire time, but realistically, he can’t picture a long future for him within the confinement of this island.

no long and happy future that includes yuta.

they make it to yuta’s capital residence just as the sun begins to set. 

the door slides shut behind them, and before taeyong can say a word, he wraps his arm around his waist, brings him closer until he can see the universe behind his eyes, staring back at yuta with that same fondness makes his heart melt, and kisses him fervently. 

taeyong lets out a surprised squeak from the back of his throat before melting into yuta, kissing back with equal enthusiasm and stepping back until he’s sandwiched between yuta and the door.

he tries to break away to make a teasing remark, but yuta keeps going back in for more, again and again, like he’s drowning himself in taeyong.

“yuta! yuta!” he taps at his shoulder gently, until yuta reluctantly stops and meets his eyes again. “what’s wrong?”

his fists clench around taeyong’s waist, his entire body beginning to shake as he tries to hold back a pathetic sob.

“i’m sorry.” it comes out broken and rough. “i’m sorry i took you hostage, i’m sorry i stopped you when you ran away, i’m sorry i selfishly kept you even after i realized how much i don’t want you to die. taeyong, you shouldn’t be here.”

“wha-”

yuta’s heart is filled with a new resolve, one that he can barely force himself to accept. “i’ll help you escape, okay? i can pull some strings and get you on a boat to liyue. you can start a new life and use your vision freely and never worry about being in danger again. i swear i’ll do everything i can to protect you.”

he expects taeyong to agree, to be relieved, to devise his escape plan himself. but to his surprise, taeyong’s expression softens. he kisses him again.

crushing current to a gentle stream.

“i want to be here,” taeyong says with a smile. he cups yuta’s face in his warm hands, gently rubs at his tear streaks. “i’d like to stay with you, above all else.”


End file.
